1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for and a method of cooking and serving pieces of food and, more particularly, an apparatus and method especially well adapted to cooking and serving pieces of food on or from indoor and outdoor grills or barbecues as well as directly over cooking coals or a cooking fire.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The cooking of food transcends the mere exposure of the food to heat in order to induce chemical changes. Cooking is partly science, but it is more art. In fact, it is so much art that considerations of, for example, preparation and presentation are an important utilitarian rather than purely aesthetic aspect of the process.
The blend of the aesthetic and the utilitarian is well exemplified in skewer cooking and specifically in shish kebab. Shish kebab typically consists of cubes of meat such as lamb or beef marinated and cooked with vegetables such as onions, tomatoes, and green peppers on a skewer. At least part of the popularity of this food is due to how readily it lends itself to preparation on an outdoor grill or barbecue. The pieces of food, or kebab, are arranged on the skewer as desired by piercing the food with the pointed end of the skewer and sliding the food toward the other end. The skewer is then placed directly on the barbecue and manipulated with tongs by the cook. If the skewer is metal, cooking is even because the skewer cooks the food from the inside while exposure to the flames cooks the outside. When a desired degree of doneness is achieved, the skewer is removed from the grill and set upon a platter. The diner then removes the kebab from the skewer to a plate, typically by grabbing the blunt end of the skewer and sliding the kebab off the skewer using a fork. The kebab is then transferred to a plate.
This method of cooking and preparing food is generally satisfactory, and has surely led to many thousands of hours of recreational dining. It just as surely must be appreciated, however, that this method of cooking and preparing food has certain inherent limitations and hazards. One limitation is that the food on the skewer is placed directly on the grill during cooking, thereby exposing the food morsels to whatever contamination may exist on the grill surface. Another limitation is that the same skewer is used for supporting the raw food on the grill and for presentation of the food after cooking. This means that the skewer must be long enough to permit ready manipulation by the cook while the food is on the grill and thick enough to remain rigid over that length.
Because conventional skewers are relatively large, they tend to retain heat, making the skewers unsuitable as utensils for the actual eating of the food. Also, many cooks have the experience of certain types of food, such as fish, dropping off the skewer because the skewer is so large as to break the piece of food or, because of shrinkage during cooking, or the fragility of the food itself, the food becomes loose on the skewer and so tends to slide off the pointed end. Indeed, shrinking and softening of food during cooking complicates turning the food because it slips when the skewer is turned. Further, since the skewer is so long, it is often inconvenient to eat the food without first removing all of the cooked food morsels. It is also inconvenient to serve if one desires to eat a portion less than that contained on a full skewer.